SCC and Lenovo: The new normal for today’s workforce

Millennials and Gen Z make up more than half of today’s workers, and it has caused big changes in the workplace. These ‘new-gen’ employees are the first true digital natives. They communicate, collaborate, create, and solve problems differently than every generation before them – and this was before the COVID-19 pandemic forced widespread remote collaboration in response to strict social distancing measures.

With the onset of the pandemic, remote working is creating entirely new organisational structures. Leaders are rethinking ways to generate sales and deliver services using remote working practices. However, new-gen workers were already driving this change, which has been accelerated in 2020.

They’re as comfortable communicating by email and instant messages as they are by phone and even in person. And they have a completely new set of expectations for where, when, and how they work. What these new-gen employees want from their workplace has little to do with aspiring to a big corner office. Their style leans to flexible workspaces that let them work seamlessly wherever they happen to be—their office desk, at home, a coffee shop across the city, or anywhere around the world.

Their work style is built around technology—the devices they use to get work done. If employees can’t get to the right tools or collaborate easily with other team members, it can halt workflows and slow down productivity for the entire team and, ultimately, the business.

The rise of the new-gen employees entering the workforce, has also been matched by a much greater interest in remote working. It has become the ultimate perk, more important to employees than having extended vacation time.  Now, with current events, remote working is a feature of most people’s working lives. It has meant significant changes to stay productive and overcome challenges.

Remote working: The challenges

Maintaining communication and collaboration – Making it easy to work together, wherever and whenever necessary, is more important than ever for Enterprise and Public Sector organisations.

Learning to unplug from work – The requirement to personalise your working space and use portable technology that gives you all the power of office systems, while providing the security and privacy you need to work in public areas.

Avoiding distractions – There are technology choices that will help make your working life quieter, such as a silent, click-free mouse or headphones to block out ambient noise.

Collaboration essentials

Organisations and their employees are working more collaboratively than ever before. And technology innovation is undeniably the foundation that enables this change in work style. For them, technology defines their workplace and collaboration is their work style. They thrive on the ability to seamlessly adapt any space into a productive workspace that gives them seamless collaboration capabilities.

Today’s workforce needs smarter, productivity-enhancing conferencing tools that provide the capability and flexibility to stage video conferences and presentations, literally at a moment’s notice.

Hardware

ThinkPad and ThinkBook Plus laptops with built-in cameras and microphones are optimised for working with conferencing software, like Microsoft Teams, that enable superior collaboration when working remotely. Support for WiFi 6 delivers the fastest connection speeds for seamless video and audio delivery.

Superior audio and video with Dolby® Audio™ integrated into many laptops and tablets improves the conferencing experience whether in an office, meeting room, or on the go. Dual-array microphones reduce ambient noise for an immersive audio experience on VoIP calls. Devices with built-in HD webcam and FHD anti-glare display deliver a great video conferencing experience.

Hot keys for instant calls enable users to instantly answer and end conferencing calls with just a keystroke. No more searching for on-screen buttons or scanning menus to find the right commands.

All-in-one meeting room solutions simplify and augment video conferencing for all participants. Designed for maximum productivity, the purpose-built systems make it easy to connect, share content, and even take advantage of intelligent voice assistance to use voice commands and take meeting notes.

Software

Online collaboration platforms let users chat, make video calls, and share their screens with ease. Whiteboarding capabilities enable participants in a video conference to sketch out and collaborate on ideas in real-time.

Accessories

Portable Camera/Speakers are perfect for on-the-go video conferencing. 360-degree camera, speaker and multi-directional microphone in a single, very portable plug-and-play package makes it easy to hold conferences from virtually anywhere.

Headsets not only free your hands to multitask while on a conference call but can also improve productivity by up to 43%.

Intelligent Collaboration Cameras use AI to enhance video meeting experiences. Intelligent features like auto-framing automate the manual process of pan-tilt zoom to fit people in the frame, freeing teams to concentrate on work. Other features, like content sharing and analytics, further enhance the experience.

Why SCC?

SCC ensures User Experience (UX) is at the centre of everything we deliver. We recognise that employees today have high expectations, most having access to devices at home that are well beyond typical corporate device specification. We ensure our customers are secure, productive, connected, maintained, and managed, enabling seamless collaboration and office mobility (any device, anywhere, anytime).

Our real-time, data-driven insights and actions will proactively identify and eradicate potential issues at the root. We will help our customers to achieve exponential growth by aligning IT and Business Strategy.  We enable the diversified workforce to work together irrespective of where they are. The SCC services that facilitate this collaboration are:

• Unified Communications Management
• Document Services
• Audio Visual Services
• Presence & Instant Messaging
• Walk in and take over – Managed Service
• Room as a Service

Click here to view and download Lenovo’s Collaboration e-book.

Click here to learn more about SCC’s Workplace Productivity solutions.